Rabu, 15 Desember 2010

Excellent book

Energy Sustainable World Vincenzo Balzani

Authors Vincenzo Balzani (Professor of Chemistry), Nicola Armaroli (Research Scientist) say Spaceship Earth cannot land and cannot dock anywhere to be refueled or repaired. Any damage has to be solved and fixed by its passengers, without disembarking. It's the only home where we can live. Since we travel alone in the universe we rely on our planet's resources and the sun's energy. Because our human ecological footprint is large (7-billion passengers) our 4.5 billion-year-old planet has entered a new epoch. In 1950 the world population was 2.6 billion, with an increase of 1.5% per year. In 2009 humankind began using biological services faster than the Earth can renew them. In spite of alarm bells "growth" remains the magic word for economists and politicians. They believe economic growth is infinite and press for increasing production and consumption.Balzani and Armaroli say the modern life of affluent people is currently easy compared to our ancestors because of the steady flux of cheap and plentiful energy in the form of fossil fuel. In "Energy for a Sustainable World: From the Oil Age to a Sun-Powered Future" they explain that fossil fuel is a nonrenewable resource and that is going to exhaust, how it is currently causing severe damage to the Earth's atmosphere and how it is indirectly contributing to iniquities in human society (half of the total primary energy supply is consumed by 10% of the population).Energy plays a key role in controlling Earth's fragility. Humankind's problems and challenges include food, water, health, wealth, climate, heating, lighting, cooling, transportation, communication and wars.Fortunately, the authors say the energy crisis offers an unprecedented opportunity to make responsible decisions right now. The Earth is in our hands: we need to be wise enough to use our science and technology to develop an ecologically sustainable civilization and reduce disparity. Also the quest for ecological and social sustainability requires we become aware of consuming resources above the threshold of our needs. A logic of "sufficiency" is necessary to attain ecological stability.By outlining the alternatives for today and the future Balzani and Armaroli give an extensive overview on nuclear energy, solar thermal and photovoltaics, solar fuels, wind power, ocean energies and other renewables. They balance the pros and cons of each energy source, survey the energy issue from a broad scientific perspective while considering environmental, economic, and social factors. They highlight the increasing importance of electricity and the long-term perspectives of a hydrogen-based economy.They explain why we need to focus on and develop renewable energies. They say energy sources based on Sun, wind, water and Earth are abundant enough to supply the power needed in 2050 when our planet will have over 9 billion people.This book is an excellent source of updated and carefully documented information.

4 komentar:

Energy for a Sustainable World would make a wonderful textbook for an upper level course in environmental studies. Its chapters are well-organized and easy to follow, and the figures and illustrations do a great job of supporting the text. I read the book cover to cover, but the reader could easily read chapters out of order or pick and choose which ones to read without losing too much understanding of the book's subject matter.

The book is divided into 6 parts: a basic introduction to energy on Earth, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, renewable energy, energy carriers, and ideas for sustainability in the future.

The authors rely heavily on acronyms, but they helpfully provided a list of acronyms at the beginning of the text. I kept this page bookmarked for easy reference and would recommend that others do the same.

The only flaw I found with Energy for a Sustainable World was the lack of a glossary. Given the technical nature of the book, I think many people, especially students reading this for a college course, would find a glossary useful in keeping straight some of the terms and definitions used.

Authors Vincenzo Balzani (Professor of Chemistry), Nicola Armaroli (Research Scientist) say Spaceship Earth cannot land and cannot dock anywhere to be refueled or repaired. Any damage has to be solved and fixed by its passengers, without disembarking. It's the only home where we can live. Since we travel alone in the universe we rely on our planet's resources and the sun's energy. Because our human ecological footprint is large (7-billion passengers) our 4.5 billion-year-old planet has entered a new epoch. In 1950 the world population was 2.6 billion, with an increase of 1.5% per year. In 2009 humankind began using biological services faster than the Earth can renew them. In spite of alarm bells "growth" remains the magic word for economists and politicians. They believe economic growth is infinite and press for increasing production and consumption.Balzani and Armaroli say the modern life of affluent people is currently easy compared to our ancestors because of the steady flux of cheap and plentiful energy in the form of fossil fuel. In "Energy for a Sustainable World: From the Oil Age to a Sun-Powered Future" they explain that fossil fuel is a nonrenewable resource and that is going to exhaust, how it is currently causing severe damage to the Earth's atmosphere and how it is indirectly contributing to iniquities in human society (half of the total primary energy supply is consumed by 10% of the population).Energy plays a key role in controlling Earth's fragility. Humankind's problems and challenges include food, water, health, wealth, climate, heating, lighting, cooling, transportation, communication and wars.Fortunately, the authors say the energy crisis offers an unprecedented opportunity to make responsible decisions right now. The Earth is in our hands: we need to be wise enough to use our science and technology to develop an ecologically sustainable civilization and reduce disparity. Also the quest for ecological and social sustainability requires we become aware of consuming resources above the threshold of our needs. A logic of "sufficiency" is necessary to attain ecological stability.By outlining the alternatives for today and the future Balzani and Armaroli give an extensive overview on nuclear energy, solar thermal and photovoltaics, solar fuels, wind power, ocean energies and other renewables. They balance the pros and cons of each energy source, survey the energy issue from a broad scientific perspective while considering environmental, economic, and social factors. They highlight the increasing importance of electricity and the long-term perspectives of a hydrogen-based economy.They explain why we need to focus on and develop renewable energies. They say energy sources based on Sun, wind, water and Earth are abundant enough to supply the power needed in 2050 when our planet will have over 9 billion people.This book is an excellent source of updated and carefully documented information.

An excellent guidebook to a sustainable renewable energy future for everyone. Things cannot continue as they are as we are running out of fossil fuels. The only reason that anyone would need oil sands production is because you're running out of oil worldwide. This will cause energy prices to increase further. Because of this we'll be having to have renewable energy sources as a part of our lives. I personally recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the coming changes and wants to live more sustainably. The authors have covered the subject extremely and thoroughly well.